Ice refrigerator



Dec. 27, 1938.

-c. E. H. FRYKDAHL ICE REFRIGERATOR Filed Nov. 11, 1936.

HEW

2 Sheets-Sheet l Dec, 27, 1938. c. E. H. FRYKDAHL ICE REFRIGERATOR Filed Nov. 11, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Dec. 27, 1938 IGE REFRIGERATOR oar! Edward Harry Frykdahl, Duluth, as-

signor to The Coolerator Company, Duluth, Minn., a corporation of Minnesota Application November 11, 1936, Serial No. 110,223

' 19 Claims. (01. 6231) This invention relates to ice refrigerators and it is particularly intended and adapted for that type of ice refrigerator in which the air is circulated in the food compartment, and the air is a cooled and otherwise conditioned by passing through a cooling zone adjoining the cake of ice in the ice compartment of the refrigerator.

Thus it has been found, in ice refrigerators wherein the circulation of air is confined to the 1 m food compartment and wherein the air is cooled and otherwise conditioned by passing through a cooling zone under the ice, that the temperature throughout the food compartment is uniform and there is no particular area in the food compart- 15 ment wherein the temperature is appreciably lower than in the other areas in the food compartment. It is desirable insome instances however to provide lower temperatures for the proper preservation of certain foods as milk, cream, 20 etc. than is provided in the ice refrigerators wherein the temperature throughout the food compartment is practically uniform. It is therefore the principal object of this invention to provide a restricted area within the food compart- 25 ment of an ice refrigerator which will be colder than the remainder of the food compartment.

Another object is to provide a compartment within the main food compartment of an ice'refrigerator which is adapted to be cooled by the 30: air immediately after the air leaves the cooling zone.

A further object is to provide a relatively cold area, in an ice refrigerator cooled by under-ice circulation, for suitable refrigeration of those 35- food products which require somewhat relatively lower temperature for proper preservation without disturbing the temperature in the remainder of the food compartment.

With these and other objects in'view I have illustrated the invention in a selected embodiment in the accompanying drawings and referring thereto Fig. 1 is a sectional view of the top portion of the food compartment and the bottom portion 45 of the ice compartment of an ice refrigerator;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of a modified form of cold compartment and wherein a portion is broken,

away;

50 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is an exploded view of .the drip pan. Referring to the drawings, 5 indicates gener- Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3-3 ditions. The refrigerator has a main food compartment 6 at the bottom and an ice compartment 1 at the top. A front ledge 8 is supported in the side walls of the refrigerator adjacent the cross rail 9 which is located in the front wall be- 5 tween the food compartment door I0 and the ice compartment door II. An inner rail I2 is mounted on the front ledge 8 and spaced like the front ledge from the rail 9. The inner rail has a sheet metal facing I3 thereon which extends 10 down over the inner edge of the front ledge and hangs free thereover to provide a drip edge directly above the drip pan, generally indicated by I4, to prevent any water of condensation or water from the melting ice from dripping into the food compartment. The inner rail and front ledge are spaced from the front rail to prevent condensation on the outer side of'the front rail and the space is covered by the sill for the ice compartment door II which prevents anything from dropping through the space into the food compartment. This space is restricted and though there may be some movement of air therethrough it is not an air circulation space and contributes nothing to nor does it detract from the air circulation cycle in the food compartment. The front ledge 9 extends inwardly from the front wall of the refrigerator and between the two compartments and forms a shelf upon which the front of the ice rack l5 rests. A back rail I6 is fastened to the back and side walls of the refrigerator and is declined downwardly toward the center of the refrigerator from the back wall and is provided with angles it having a horizontal top surface to form a shelf upon which the rear of the ice rack I5 rests. The declination of the back rail is such that Water from the melting ice will run down the back rail to the inner end which is arranged above the drip pan whereby the water will drip onto the drip pan. Hooks l1 are also secured to the back rail at its lower end and are adapted to support a screen l1 extending across the refrigerator in the path of circulation of the air in the food compartment. The screen prevents ice chippings from falling down behind the rear edge of the drip pan into the food compartment. The ice rack may be comprised of a plurality of parallel bars extending between the front and back of the refrigerator and provided with depending sides and flanges if desired, and one type of such ice rack is illustrated in Patent 1,864,212, patented June 21, 1932. A sheet metal front rail i8 may be provided which extends upwardly alongside the inner rail l2 toapproximately the level of the 55.

lower edge of the ice compartment door I l to provide a skid rail over which a cake of ice may be pushed into the ice compartment when the previous cake has melted down to the level of the skid rail.

The drip pan, Fig. 4, comprises an upper plate 19 and a lower plate 20. The upper plate has raised side edge portions 21 which terminate in depending flanges 22. The upper plate is also provided with a turned up front edge portion 23 which terminates in a depending flange 24. There is also a turned up back edge portion 25 terminating in a rolled edge. The depending edges are all welded to each other at their junctures to form a continuous depending flange. The lower plate 20 has raised side edge portions 26 and a raised front edge portion 21 and a raised back edge portion 28.- The lower plate edge portions are welded together at their junctures to form a continuous upstanding flange around the bottom plate. The upper plate is provided with a pipe spout 29 centrally located in the back edge portion 25 so that water collecting on the.

upper plate will drain through the spout 29. The bottom plate is provided with a trough spout 3B centrally located in the back edge portion 28, and the spout 29 is adapted to extend into the spout 30 so that all water collecting on the upper plate E9 or lower plate 20 will drain therefrom at the same place. The side flanges 2 of the upper plate are provided with notches 3| which are adapted to receive the front edge portion 21' of the lower plate and the side edge portions 22 in back of the notches are adapted to fit within the side edge portions 26 of the lower plate so that the upper plate will nest in the lower plate. The side edge portions 22 are of a depth sufficient to space the body of the upper plate from the body of the lower plate, and the condensation collecting on the bottom of the upper plate will drip onto the bottom platev and drain off through the spout 30. The bottom plate is provided with hangers 32 which. are pivotally secured to the bottom plate side flangesv 25 at the front by rivets 33. Pins 31 project from the side walls of the refrigerator and are adapted to be hooked by the hangers 32. The bottom plate is also provided with grooves 34'to receive pins 35 projecting from the side walls of the refrigerator and latches 36 are pivotally secured to the side edge portions 26 to lock the plate to the pins. The pins 35 are arranged lower than the pins 3'! to support the drip pan in a declining position from front to rear in the refrigerator. This arrangement of the drip pan provides that the relatively warm air rising in the refrigerator will strike the bottom of the bottom plate and because of the tilted position of this plate the air will flow toward the front of the refrigerator up around the front edge portion 24. of the upper plate into the cooling zone between the drip panand ice, where it will be cooled and dropped down onto the upper plate and flowtoward the rear of the refrigerator and the major portion of the cooled air will flow down over the rear edges of the upper and lower plates back into the main food compartment. V

I provide openings 38 and 39 in the upper-and lower plates which register with each other and which have upstanding flanges 40 and 4| respectively therearound to prevent water on the plates from dripping therethrough. A cap, generally indicated by 42, rests on the top plate l9 about the flanges 45 thereon and comprises a top 43 and a spaced false top 43 which permits con densation forming beneath the false top to drop onto the top 43 and thence onto the upper plate. The side walls and rear wall of the cap are provided with a plurality of openings 44. The front wall is preferably solid and without openings though in some instances it may be desirable to provide openings in the front wall as well as the other walls. Cooled air from the cooling zone passes through the openings 44 and downwardly through the openings 38 and 39. The solid wall in the front of the cap tends to prevent there being too great a circulation through the openings 38 and 39.

A cold compartment is arranged beneath the center of the drip pan in the main food compartment and comprises side walls 45, a back wall 45 and a bottom 41 and it is open at the top and provided with a hinged door 48 at the front. The cold compartment rests on a shelf 50 in the refrigerator and a locking plate 5| is secured to the bottom of the compartment at the front thereof andis bent downwardly at its front end to hook the front cross wire of the shelf 50 to securely hold the compartment in place on the shelf. The side walls are flanged inwardly at the top and the flanges are provided with buttons 49 of rubber, Bakelite or the like which engage the bottom face of the bottom plate of the drip pan. The back wall 46 is recessed at 52 to accommodate the drain tube 53 which extends from the spout 30 through the floor of the main food compartment to the outside of the refrigerator. The door 48 is hinged to arms 54 extending forwardly from the front of the compartment at top and bottom of one side thereof and the door is provided with a snaplatch 55 whichcooperates with the arm 54 to space the door from the front of the compartment.

The air circulating up around the front of the drip pan into the cooling zone will partly pass clear over the drip pan and down the back wall of the refrigerator cooling the main food compartment, and a portion of the air from the cooling zone will pass through the openings 44 in the cap and the openings 38 and 39 in the drip pan into the cold compartment and out through the space around the door thereof where it will be partially dissipated into the main food compartment and partially drawn upwardly with the rising air therefrom to. the cooling zone to be recooled and reconditioned by the ice and moisture due to the melting ice dripping onto the cap and drip pan.

This circulation through the cold compartment is restricted to a relatively small area and the air circulating therethrough comes directly from the cooling zone, thereby providing a relatively lower temperature in the cold compartment than outside thereof in the main food compartment.

I provide a tray 56 in the bottom of the cold compartment which is arranged with depending flanges on its side edges and which rests on the bottom of the cold compartment. The tray is not secured to any part of the cold compartment and is readily removable for cleaning.

The cold compartment provides a restricted area wherein the temperatureis maintained several degrees colder than in the main food compartment and wherein foods demanding a relatively colder temperature for proper preservation may be kept without affecting the temperature outside of the cold compartment in the main food compartment. Theair is constantly circulating through the cold compartment by reason of the. natural tendency of the more dense cold air to'drop through the openings in the drip pan into the cold compartment and displace the relatively warm air therein through the opening around the door 48. The air entering the cold compartment is humidified in the cooling zone by the moisture on the surface of the ice and,

the moisture from the melting ice present on the fins of the ice rack and on the drip pan and in the space therebetween as it drips from the ice and fins onto the drip pan.

In the modified form of cold compartment shown in Fig. 2 a plurality of holes 47 are provided in the bottom 41 of the cold compartment to aid or induce circulation of air therethrough. When this form of cold compartment is used the tray 56 is omitted.

I have shown the invention in a selected embodiment adapted for commercial use in one model of household refrigerator wherein the circulation of air is confine-d to the food compartment, but it is to be understood that my invention may be used in any ice refrigerator wherein the air is cooled in a zone adjoining the ice cake and from which zone the air may be deflected into a compartment, and hence I do not restrict the invention to the illustrated and described embodiment and I reserve the right to make all such changes and alterations in'the form, construction and arrangement of parts which may be desirable for any purpose and within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A cold compartment for a refrigerator having a pair of side walls, a back wall, a door at its front, and a bottom, said compartment being open at the top and said door being spaced from the side walls and bottom whereby cooled air may enter said compartment through the open top to induce fiow therefrom through the space around said door and thereby establish a relatively low temperature in said compartment.

2. A cold compartment for a refrigerator having a pair of side walls, a back wall, a bottom, hinged brackets at the front of said compartment, a door mounted on said brackets, and a latch for said door, said hinged brackets and latch cooperating to space said door from the side Walls and bottom of said compartment, said compartment being open at the top whereby cooled air may enter said compartment through the open top to induce flow through the space around said door and thereby establish a relatively low temperature in said compartment.v

3. A drip pan for a refrigerator having an upper plate and a lower plate spaced apart, said plates having registering openings therein for passage of cooled air therethrough, and a cap arranged over said openings to prevent water dripping therethrough from the space thereabove, said cap having a top and a false top spaced apart whereby condensation on the underside of the false top will drip onto the top and dust will be prevented from dropping through said openings.

4. A drip pan for a refrigerator having an upper plate and a lower plate spaced apart, said plates having registering openings therein for passage of cooled air therethrough, and a cap arranged over said openings to prevent water dripping therethrough from the space thereabove,

; said cap having openings in the sides and back thereof for circulation of cooled air therethrough and through said openings in the plates.

5. A drip pan for a refrigerator having'an upper plate and a lower plate spaced apart, said I plates having registering openings therein for into said registering openings and also to permit.

cooled air to pass therethrough to the openings in the plates, said front wall being solid to prevent there being too great a circulation through the cap by cooled air circulating-from in front of the cap.

6. A refrigerator comprising an ice compartment and a main food compartment, an ice rack at the bottom of the ice compartment to receive a cake of ice, a drip pan in said food compartment beneath the ice rack and defining a cooling and conditioning zone between the ice rack and drip pan, said drip pan having an opening therein, a cap having side walls and a front and back wall and openings in certain of said walls, and. a cold compartment in said food compartment and arranged beneath the opening in said drip pan to receive cooled air from said cooling zone through the openings in said cap and said drip pan without disturbing the temperature in the main food compartment.

'7. A refrigerator comprising an ice compartment, a main food compartment, and a relatively smaller auxiliary compartment within said main food compartment and wherein food products and the like requiring a relatively low temperature may be stored, air cooled by ice in the ice compartment of said refrigerator flowing to the main food compartment to establish a refrigerating temperature therein, and means for deflecting at least a part of the cold air as it passes from the ice into the auxiliary compartment whereby a temperature may be established under normal operating conditions in said auxiliary compartment lowerthan'the temperature established in said main food compartment.

8. Av refrigerator comprising an ice compartment and a main food compartment, said refrigerator having a cooling zone therein adjoining the ice compartment, air cooled in said cooling zone flowing to the main food compartment to establish a refrigerating temperature therein, and a relatively smaller auxiliary compartment entirely within said main food compartment and partment to receive cooled air directly from said zone.

10. A refrigerator comprising an ice compartment and a main food compartment therebelcw,

said refrigerator having a cooling and conditioning zone at the juncture of said ice and main food compartments, and a partially enclosed cold compartment beneath said cooling zone smaller than and positioned within said main food com-' partment to receive cooled air directly from said zone.

11. A refrigerator comprising an ice compartment and a main food compartment therebelow, a cooling and conditioning zone at the juncture of said ice and main food compartments, a cold compartment smaller than and positioned within said main food compartment and beneath said cooling zone, and means to direct a portion of the cooled air passing from said cooling zone into the col-d compartment and to direct the remainder of the air passing from said cooling zone into said main food compartment.

12. A refrigerator comprising an ice compartment and a main food compartment therebelow, a cooling zone at the juncture of said ice and main food compartments, a cold compartment smaller than and positioned within said main food compartment and beneath said cooling zone, and means to direct a portion of the cooled air passing from said cooling zone directly into the cold compartment and thence into the main food compartment and to direct the remainder of the cooled air passing from said cooling zone directly into said food compartment. i

l3.- A refrigerator comprising an ice compartment and a main food compartment therebelow, a drip pan in said food compartment at the top thereof defining a cooling and conditioningv zone at the juncture of said ice and main food compartments, said drip pan being spaced from each one of a pair of opposite walls of said refrigerator, and a cold compartment within said. main food compartment, said drip pan having an opening therethrough whereby warm air rising through the space between one of the walls and the drip pan is cooled in the cooling zone and a portion thereof is directed through said opening directly into said cold compartment and the remainder of said cooled air is directed through the space between the other of said pair of walls and the drip pan directly into the main food compartment.

14. A refrigerator comprising an ice compartment and a main food compartment therebelow, a drip pan in said food compartment at the top thereof defining a cooling and conditioning zone at the juncture of said ice and main food compartments, said drip pan being spaced from each one of a pair of opposite walls of said refrigerator, and a cold compartment within said main food compartment, said drip pan having an opening therethrough whereby warm air rising through the space between one wall and the drip pan is cooled in the cooling zone and a portion thereof is directed through said opening directly into said cold compartment and thence into said main food compartment and the remainder of said cooled air is directed through the space between the other of said pair of walls and the drip pan directly into the main food compartment and all of said air again rises upon being warmed to repeat said cycle.

15. A refrigerator comprising an ice compartment and a main food compartment therebelow, a drip pan in said food compartment at the top thereof and declined from front to rear of the refrigerator and defining a cooling and conditioning zone thereabove at the juncture of said ice and main food compartments, said drip pan being spaced from each of the front and back walls of said refrigerator, said drip pan having an opening therethrough, and a cold compartment within said main food compartment beneath the opening in said drip pan having means whereby a portion of the cooled air passes through said drip pan opening into said cold compartment and thence into said main food compartment, and the remainder of said cooled air passing from said cooling zone passes over the back edge of said drip pan downwardly along the rear wall. of the refrigerator directly into the food compartment and all of said air again rises upon being warmed in said main food compartment along the front wall of said main food compartment and around the front edge of said drip pan into said cooling zone to repeat said cycle.

16. A refrigerator comprising an ice compartment and a main food compartment, means for supporting a cake of ice in the ice compartment, said refrigerator having a cooling and conditioning zone beneath the ice supporting means, and a substantially closed cold compartment in said main food compartment and beneath said zone so as to receive cooled air directly from the cooling zone to thereby establish a low temperature in said cold compartment relative to the general temperature of said main food compartment.

17. A refrigerator including an ice compartment and a food compartment and having a door at the front of said food compartment, and means in said food compartment providing a cold compartment, said cold compartment comprising a pair of side walls and a back wall and having a door at the front thereof to face the first-named door, said cold compartment also comprising a bottom and being open at the top, said bottom having openings therethrough whereby air cooled by ice in the ice compartment may constantly enter said cold compartment through the open top and pass therefrom through the openings in the bottom to induce a constant flow of cooled air through the cold compartment whereby a relatively low temperature is established in the cold compartment.

18. A refrigerator including an ice compartment and a food compartment and having a door at the front of said food compartment, and means in said food compartment providing a cold compartment, said cold compartment comprising a pair of side walls, a bottom wall and a back wall and having a door at the front thereof to face the first-named door, said cold compartment having openings in the bottom and about the door thereof and being open at the top whereby air cooled by ice in the ice compartment may constantly enter said cold compartment through the open top and pass therefrom through the openings in the bottom and about the door to induce a constant flow of cooled air through the cold compartment whereby a relatively low temperature is established in the cold compartment.

19. A refrigerator including an ice compartment and a food compartment and having a door at the front of said food compartment, and a unitary structure in said food compartment comprising a plurality of walls disposed to define a cold compartment in said food compartment, one of said walls being arranged to provide a door disposed to face the first-named door, said cold compartment having an open top, certain of said walls being constructed and arranged to provide at least one opening below said open top whereby cold air passing into said cold compartment through said open top may pass from this compartment through said opening.

CARL EDWARD HARRY FRYKDAHL. 

